Method of cracking hydrocarbons



F, F,K WELLMAN.

mmm or CRAcKlNG HYHocAHBoNs.

APPLICATION FiLED FEB. l2. i919.

Patentsd .Iu'ly 27, 1926,

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FRANK E. WELLMAN, OF KANSAS CIT'iY, KANSAS. ASSIGNOR TO THE KANSAS CITYGASLINE COMPANY, OF KANSAS CITY, KANSAS, A CORPORATION `OF KANSAS.

METHOD O-CRACKING H'YDRCARIBONS.A

Lafrance;

Patented July 27, 1920.

Application filed February 12. 1919. ASerial No. 276.677.

Zh r/Z/ whom it may concern:

lie. it known that I, FRANK E. WELLMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kansas City, in the-county of lVyandotte, State of Kansas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of'fran-king Hydrocarbons, of which the following is a specification,-reference being had therein to the accompanyingdrawing.

My invention relates to processes for the 'treatment of hydrocarbons,especially heavy petroleum distillates consisting almost e'ntirely ofthe paraliin series, to obtain lighter products suitable for motor fuel.The prescnt invention is a specific modiiication of that disclosed in mycopending application sei-n1 No. 259,656, filed-October 25,1918.

The ol jectof the present invention is to provide a process wherebythepercentage of lvield of commercial. gasolene br motor fuel may beincreased without a substantial increase in the pressure used. I attainthis ohicct by the use of a certain relation betvfeen the volume oftho'oil under treatment and the space above in the cracking retort. Myexperiments show that with heavy petroleum distillate a charge equal to1t) per cent. of the volume capacity of the retortgives a maximum yieldof product at any given pressure. charged into the container involvesdiliiculty from overheating of the container since there is not enoughoil on the bottom to prevent overheating the metal.

lilly invention may be carried out by the use oi an apparatus astypified by that illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

The drawing is a diagrammatic view showing the essential apparatuselements.

In the drawing 5 indicates the supply pipe leading from a suitablesource of supply to a pump 6 discharging through a suitable valve andpipe 9 into a measuring tank il), the pump being operated by a suitabledriving mechanism not shown. A gage glass 11 is provided for the measuring tank and also an air reservoir 12 con-- nected with the tank througha pipe 13 and supplied by a 'suitable constant pressure pump 14. Themeasuring tank discharges at its lower end through a charging pipe line15 into the cracking retort 16, the bottom ot' 'the measuring tank beingprovided with a suitable ioat valve 15a or other means toA prevent airfrom passing Less amountinto the cracking tube 16 upon emptying ofthetank. A stop valve l? and pop valve 18 are connected in the chargingpipe line 15 as Well as a pair of check valves 1S) and 2() arranged toprevent back pressure from the cracking tube. The cracking tube isconstructed so as to resist the cracking tempcrature andprcssure used`both of which in this system are relatively high.

The discharge end of the cracking tube 16 is provided with a suitableball float valve 21 for the purpose of retaining some gas pressure inthe tube after discharge of the liquid. A discharge line 22 leads Vfromthe discharge end ot the cracking tube through cooling coil 23 to areceiving tank 24. Included in thedischarge line between the float valve21 and the cooling coil 23 is a trip valve 25 arranged to be opened whentripped by a spring so as to citect a quick opening` the valve stembeing provided withI a trip catch operated by' a handle 26, the

valve being set at closed position agamst r the tension ot the sprlng bymeans of the setting handlef27. The receiving tank 24 is supplied withsuitable pressure and vacuum relief valves Q8 and v29 respectively,and'a discharge pipe 30 with a stop valve 31. The cracking tube 16v ismounted ina suitable furnace 32 provided with a source of heat such asthe burner 33. The cracking tube 16 is also provided with a suitablepressure gage 34 and temperature indica i ing device 35.

The operation of the system is as tol lows:

The furnace having been started to heat the cracking tube,` themeasuring tank 10 is filled with the required amount of oil, notexceeding in lvolume 1() per cent'. of the vol ume of the cracking tube16 after which the valve 17 is opened, permitting the measured charge ofoil to be forced out of the measuring tank by compressed air from thereservoir 12 and through the charging line 15 into the cracking tube 16.The cracking tube 16 is now charged with :upredetermined volume of oilunder pressure and vthe valve 17 is now closed. Immediately upon closureof the valve 1", the pressure in the' cracking tube begins to rise dueto continued heating ofthe oil. This continues until cracking begins,when the tempera* ture of the hydrocarbons becomes substantiallyconstant, While the pressure continues to rise.l The temperaturesemployed range between 750 F. `and 9000 1".' and the pressures between10d and. (SUUpounds to the Square inch. vl/'hen the pressure finally-reaches the maximum pQinLl'the valve 25 is trippeth'iijhich permits thecontents' ot the cracking tube to be forcibly'discharged out through thechamber of the Hout valve.

ing tube.. The trip valve 25 is then set in closed position and theoperation repeated Having thus described my invention. what I claini anddesire to secuiby Letters Patent is:v

The process of treating hydrocarbon oil which consists inheating,r thesaine toa high temperature and under a high pressure in a retortcontaining a volume of the hydrocarbon oil equal to ten per cent. of thetotal volume of the retort with gas under pressure filling: tlieretortover the oil, blowing out the cracked product under pres sure, andtrapping back the zgas so as to retain it in the retort.

ture.

FRANK E. WELLMAN.

In testimony dre-reet. alix my signa-

